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Minister, DGP slug it out, cops lose out on medals
It’s not easy being a cop in Chhattisgarh, with 12 of the state’s 18 districts affected by Maoist adversaries and the chances of being posted to any such district being high, reports Ejaz Kaiser.
It’s not easy being a cop in Chhattisgarh, with 12 of the state’s 18 districts affected by Maoist adversaries and the chances of being posted to any such district being high.
It’s worse when the consolation of recognition for meritorious service by the President of India is caught in bureaucratic wrangling.
In this case, state home minister Nanki Ram Kanwar and Director General of Police Vishwaranjan differ who should get the gallantry awards, said Inspector General of Police (Administration) Anand Tiwari.
Considering that more than half the state’s police force of about 48,000 is posted in Maoist-affected areas and
that 120 of them were killed in Maoist violence so far this year (compared to 9 killed in West Bengal, which is also affected by Maoists), the least the government could do is to ensure that the bravest in the force get a token of recognition from the head of state. But that possibility seems remote now.
The Chhattisgarh government is headed by Raman Singh of the BJP.
The state government did send the Union Home Ministry a list of 26 police officers deserving the award — but it did so a month after the November 11 deadline — and that too after the chief minister’s intervention. But that’s where the file stopped.
“The police headquarters has not acted promptly in sending the names to me. I got the files in December, which was already quite late. I only objected to those names, which did not meet the given criteria,” Kanwar told HT.
The director-general of police was not available for comment on a matter that involves the morale of men willing to lay down their lives for the state.
